Born Between Two Worlds

His Presence

Chapter 7

I placed the pendant on my palm and held it out to Mother.

For a moment, she didn't move.

Her eyes were fixed on the strange symbol carved into its surface, and something changed in her expression.

It was subtle.

So subtle that I might have missed it if I hadn't been watching her so closely.

Her face paled slightly.

Her lips parted, but no words came out.

“Mother?”

She finally looked at me.

“Where did you get that?”

Her voice was different.

Not curious.

Not confused.

Afraid.

“I found it in the woods,” I replied. “It was lying on the ground.”

She stared at the pendant again.

Then she reached for it.

I placed it in her hand, but instead of examining it, she closed her fingers around it almost immediately.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Nothing.”

The answer came too quickly.

I frowned.

“Nothing?”

“Yes.”

She looked away.

“It is just an old pendant.”

Something about her answer didn't sit right with me.

“You don't look like it's just an old pendant.”

Her eyes returned to mine.

For a few seconds, she said nothing.

Then she sighed and motioned for me to sit beside her.

I did.

Mother remained quiet for a while, turning the pendant over in her hand.

Her thumb traced the symbol carefully.

Almost as though she remembered it.

“Liora,” she finally said, “this pendant is one of the old ones from where we used to live.”

I frowned.

“From where we used to live?”

She nodded.

“Yes.”

“Then why have I never seen it before?”

“Because there are some things from our past that you don't need to know about.”

I stared at her.

That wasn't an answer.

“Who does it belong to?”

Her fingers tightened around the pendant.

“No one.”

“Mother.”

“Liora.”

Her voice was gentle, but there was something underneath it.

A warning.

“I don't want you asking questions about this.”

“But why?”

“Because I don't want you getting associated with them.”

“Them?”

She hesitated.

That single hesitation told me more than her words did.

“There are people connected to things from our past,” she said carefully. “People you have no reason to involve yourself with.”

I studied her face.

“Who are they?”

“You don't need to know.”

“Then why are you telling me all this?”

She looked down at the pendant.

“Because I need you to give this to me and forget that you ever found it.”

I blinked.

“What?”

“Give it to me, Liora.”

“But you just said it's nothing.”

“It isn't important.”

“Then why do I need to forget about it?”

She didn't answer.

The silence that followed was uncomfortable.

I could hear the faint ticking of the clock across the room.

Mother finally looked at me.

“Please.”

Her voice was softer now.

“For your own safety.”

I stared at her.

There was something in her eyes.

Fear.

Real fear.

And that frightened me more than anything else.

“Is the pendant dangerous?”

“No.”

The answer came immediately.

Too immediately.

I narrowed my eyes.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Another lie.

I didn't know exactly what she was hiding, but I knew she was hiding something.

Mother had never been good at lying to me.

At least, not when I was looking directly into her eyes.

But this time, she seemed determined to make me believe her.

“I just want you to stay away from anything connected to our old life,” she said. “Some things are better left buried.”

I looked at the pendant one last time.

Then I handed it back to her.

Her fingers closed around it.

“Thank you.”

She quickly slipped it out of sight.

I watched her.

“You're not telling me everything.”

Her expression froze.

“I don't know what you're talking about.”

“Yes, you do.”

She opened her mouth, but I stood before she could answer.

“Forget it.”

I turned toward the stairs.

“Liora.”

I stopped.

“Please trust me.”

I looked back at her.

“I do.”

I paused.

“But I don't think you're telling me the truth.”

Her face fell slightly.

I didn't wait for her response.

I went upstairs, leaving her alone with the secret she clearly wasn't ready to share.

But one thing was certain.

Whatever that pendant was...

It wasn't nothing.

---

By the time I arrived at school the next morning, I still couldn't stop thinking about it.

Mother's reaction kept replaying in my mind.

The way she had gone pale.

The hesitation in her voice.

The way she had immediately taken the pendant from me.

And most of all, the fear in her eyes.

Something was connected to that pendant.

I just didn't know what.

I found Nina and Adrian standing near our usual lockers.

Nina spotted me first.

“You look distracted.”

“I am.”

Adrian turned toward me.

“What happened?”

I glanced around before answering.

“I told my mother about the pendant.”

Both of them immediately became interested.

“And?” Nina asked.

“She said it's nothing special.”

Adrian raised an eyebrow.

“Nothing special?”

“That's what she said.”

“And you believe her?”

I shook my head.

“No.”

Nina exchanged a look with Adrian.

“What did she say about it?”

“She said it was one of the old pendants from where we used to live.”

Adrian frowned.

“Then why did she act like that?”

“Exactly.”

I folded my arms.

“She told me she didn't want me associated with the people connected to it. Then she asked me to give it to her and forget that I ever found it.”

Nina stared at me.

“That sounds suspicious.”

“It is.”

“Did she tell you who these people are?”

“No.”

Adrian leaned against the locker.

“Then there's definitely something she's hiding.”

“I know.”

I sighed.

“The problem is that I don't know what.”

Nina was about to respond when she suddenly stopped.

Her expression changed.

I noticed it immediately.

“What?”

She didn't answer.

Neither did Adrian.

Then I felt it.

A strange shift in the air.

The corridor became quiet.

Not completely.

But enough for me to notice.

Conversations faded one after another.

Students turned their heads toward the far end of the hallway.

I felt a chill run through me.

Then came the scent.

My body reacted before my mind could process it.

I inhaled slowly.

And froze.

Power.

An overwhelming amount of it.

My senses immediately sharpened.

The scent was unfamiliar, yet somehow there was something about it that felt strangely recognizable.

It wasn't like anything I had ever sensed before.

It was deeper.

Stronger.

Almost commanding.

I looked toward the end of the corridor.

“What's happening?” I whispered.

Neither Nina nor Adrian answered.

The sound of footsteps echoed through the hallway.

Slow.

Steady.

Unhurried.

Everyone seemed to know who was coming.

I didn't.

A figure appeared at the far end of the corridor.

A boy.

He walked alone.

Tall.

Broad-shouldered.

His dark hair fell naturally across his forehead, and his expression was cold and unreadable.

He wasn't doing anything threatening.

He didn't need to.

The entire corridor seemed to respond to his presence.

Students stepped aside as he approached.

Some lowered their voices.

Others simply stared.

No one tried to stop him.

No one even seemed willing to get in his way.

I watched him carefully.

The closer he came, the stronger his aura became.

I could sense power in people.

It was something I had always been able to do without thinking.

I could usually tell when someone was stronger than another person simply by being near them.

But this was different.

I couldn't measure his strength.

I couldn't even find its limit.

It was as though my senses had reached a wall.

He walked past a group of students without sparing them a glance.

Then he passed us.

For one brief second, I felt his aura brush against mine.

My heart skipped.

He didn't look at me.

Not even once.

He simply continued walking.

I watched him disappear farther down the corridor.

“What...?”

My voice came out quieter than I intended.

I turned toward Nina.

“Who was that?”

She stared at me.

“You don't know?”

I shook my head.

She lowered her voice.

“That was Kael Blackwood.”

The name meant nothing to me.

“Who is he?”

Nina looked at me as though she couldn't believe I was asking.

“Kael Blackwood. Son of Alpha Blackwood.”

My eyes widened slightly.

“Alpha Blackwood?”

Adrian nodded.

“The Alpha King.”

I looked back toward the direction Kael had disappeared.

Nina continued.

“Kael is one of the strongest young wolves in the territory. He's a year above us, and practically everyone knows who he is.”

“But why did everyone go quiet?”

“Because that's what happens when Kael walks into a room.”

She paused.

“People feel him before they even see him.”

I swallowed.

That was exactly what had happened.

I had felt him before I saw him.

And somehow, that disturbed me.

“What is wrong with me?” I whispered.

Adrian looked at me.

“What do you mean?”

“I've never sensed someone like that before.”

Nina shrugged.

“That'

s Kael.”

“No.”

I shook my head.

“You don't understand.”

I looked down the hallway again.

“He wasn't just powerful.”

I could still feel the strange sensation lingering in my body.

“He was... different.”

Nina and Adrian exchanged a glance.

I didn't know why.

But something inside me told me that meeting Kael Blackwood was going to change something.

I just didn't know what.

And I certainly didn't know that the boy who had walked past me without even noticing my existence would soon become impossible for me to ignore.